


Wings of Freedom

by Light_Within_Darkness



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Baby Animals, Established Relationship, Explicit Language, Fluff and Humor, Gift Fic, I Don't Even Know, I Tried, I was too lazy to write an actual sex scene, M/M, Male Slash, No angst up in here!, So it's just heavy foreplay I guess, Still NSFW though, Wow this is a long fic, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-17
Updated: 2013-11-17
Packaged: 2018-01-01 19:14:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1047578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Light_Within_Darkness/pseuds/Light_Within_Darkness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren finds an orphaned baby bird.  Levi somehow gets roped into letting him keep it.  Shenanigans ensue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wings of Freedom

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kaorusquee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaorusquee/gifts).



> This fic is for the absolutely lovely and wonderful kaorusquee, who so kindly picked up my prompt for the SnK kink meme. I asked for Vampire!Levi and Vampire Hunter!Eren, and she wrote me the absolutely wonderful and glorious fic "Hunter." It was everything I wanted AND MORE. This is for you, kaorusquee~ <3
> 
> Find kaorusquee's AO3 profile here: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaorusquee/pseuds/kaorusquee  
> Read "Hunter" here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/972949/chapters/1912681
> 
> Kaorusquee asked for some behind-the-scenes Ereri fluff, which somehow turned into this huge oneshot. I am starting to believe that I may be incapable of writing short fics. Like, at all.

It was a truly beautiful day at the former Survey Corps HQ. Warm enough to not need a cloak, but not so hot as to be uncomfortable, it was the sort of day that only seems to come around once or twice in the late spring, when the horizon is rich with the promise of summer. The kind of day that gives a person a sense of hope and optimism for the future.

Eren tilted his head up towards the sky, a clear blue with a few wispy clouds drifting across it, and let a slight sigh of contentment escape his lips. His 3D Maneuver Gear clanked reassuringly at his hips with every step the young Titan shifter took. All soldiers took great comfort in their Maneuver Gear, as it was one of their few weapons against the Titans, and definitely the most important. The difference between life and death out in the field often lay in a few supporting wires and a sharp blade. It was for this reason - this feeling of safety, of having a weapon to fight back with - that training with the 3D Maneuver Gear was cathartic for many soldiers. Even if it was just basic movements and formations, nothing beat the feeling of soaring and spinning through the air.

Eren was heading towards the thick forest that bordered the old castle's grounds, looking forward to his own 3D Maneuver Gear practice. For the past week, Hanji had been running Eren ragged with her studies on his Titan form. Every single test she ran was designed to push Eren's limits. What kind of goals did he need to focus on in order to transform? How much weight could he lift as a Titan? How long could he hold his Titan form before succumbing to exhaustion?

Hanji didn't mean to hurt him, Eren knew that. It was important that the Survey Corps learn everything they could about Eren's powers, in order to ensure Eren's and their own safety out in the field. And Eren himself needed to know everything he could about his Titan-shifting abilities, in order to best use them in a fight. Still, Hanji could get so caught up in the excitement of scientific discovery that she sometimes pushed a little too hard. More than once this week, Eren had passed out after several strenuous hours of practice, and hadn't woken up until the next morning.

It was Corporal Levi who had come to Eren's rescue. This morning, just as Hanji had come down to breakfast in order to collect Eren for another round of tests, Levi had said, casually, "Eren, I'm ordering you to practice on your 3D Maneuver Gear today. You haven't been using it in over a week, and you were never great at it in the first place. If you go too long without practice, you're liable to crash into a building and die in the middle of battle."

"Eh!?" The next second, Hanji was at Levi's side. "But...but Levi, I _need_ Eren today! I think I'm close to a breakthrough here - !"

"Save it, shitty glasses," Levi said, abruptly standing up and stepping back from the table. "You can go one day without your favorite little lab rat. Jaeger, get your Maneuver Gear and go practice."

"Yes, sir!" Eren had stood and saluted the Corporal, before quickly turning around and running to get his 3D Maneuver Gear from the shed. The Titan-shifter didn't want Hanji to see the big smile that had spread across his face. For all of Levi's gruff mannerisms and generally unapproachable manner, he could be surprisingly sweet and caring. Especially if it was to someone like Eren, who as of one week ago could finally call himself Levi's lover. Just thinking about it caused Eren to smile, a light blush tingeing his cheeks pink.

Eren had finally reached the forest, the thick undergrowth rustling around him with every step. He scanned the treetops around him, looking for a good strong bough to attach his 3D Maneuver Gear to, paying little attention to where he was walking. At least, not until something bounced up out of the plants and leaves around Eren and landed right on the tip of his boot.

Letting out a surprised yelp, Eren stumbled backwards, tripping over a particularly gnarled tree root and landing flat on his butt. "What the hell?" He muttered, looking around for whatever it was that had startled him.

_Peep peep peep..._

Eren looked down to see, of all things, a baby bird hopping up and down at his side. It was little more than a ball of soft, fluffy gray down, with legs like thin, spindly twigs the size of Eren's pinky finger. The bird looked up at Eren with beady black eyes and cocked its head, as if sizing him up. Then it chirped once more, and hopped over to sit on the back of Eren's hand.

Eren couldn't help smiling as he sat up, the movement scaring the bird off of his hand. It didn't hop away, however, merely waited nearby and cocked its head at Eren once more. Making slight shushing noises in order to calm the small creature, Eren gently brought his hands around to cup the soft, fragile baby bird. The animal let out a few uneasy chirps as Eren slowly got to his feet, but was soon soothed by the warmth of Eren's hands around it.

Looking around, Eren couldn't seem to find the nest where the bird might have come from. He poked around for several minutes in the bushes and brambles, but there was no sign of the baby bird's home anywhere. Probably an animal had got hold of the nest, and eaten the bird's family. Mikasa had said that things like that happened sometimes.

Eren gently stroked his thumb over the bird's head. "Poor thing. I bet your family got eaten, didn't they? I know what that's like." The little bird let out a quiet chirp in response, moving its head slightly in order to lean into Eren's touch. 

He couldn't leave the bird out here in the woods. It would just be too cruel. The defenseless little ball of fluff would only fall victim to the next hungry predator that came across it. Eren had no idea just what he would do with the bird, though. There was no way Levi would let Eren keep it in the castle. Clean freak that he was, the Corporal didn't like having animals indoors. Only a few days ago, Levi had insisted that one of the Survey Corps soldiers with Hanji's squad, who owned a dog, would have to make it sleep outside. As he'd put it, _"I already have to clean up after a crapload of soldiers, I'm not cleaning up after a dog too."_

Perhaps he could find a place to hide it inside the castle? It was just a baby bird, after all, tiny enough to fit in Eren's hand. It wouldn't take up much space. Hell, all Eren needed to do was find a box to keep it in, and then he could feed it on table scraps. Baby birds didn't take _that_ long to grow up, did they? As soon as the bird was able to fly, Eren would let it go. There were still a few weeks left until the next expedition outside the walls, after all. Plenty of time for a baby bird to grow up.

The sun was still high in the sky, which meant that no one would be expecting Eren back at HQ for a few hours. It was the perfect time to sneak into the castle and find a place to hide the bird. Walking as carefully as he could in order to avoid upsetting the baby bird, which was now dozing peacefully in Eren's cupped hands, the Titan shifter headed back out of the forest towards the castle.

Luckily for Eren, no one much was around the old Survey Corps castle in the middle of the day. Most of the soldiers who had come here were with Hanji's squad, and were kept busy either helping the scientist with her Titan research or working on the many other tasks that needed doing around the castle - caring for the horses, cooking meals, and maintaining their 3D Maneuver Gear and weapons, for example. And cleaning, of course. Lots and lots of cleaning. So Eren was easily able to sneak around the back, to where the small door to the kitchen had been propped open in order to let in some air.

Somehow Eren's good luck held, and he was able to move quickly through the halls and downstairs to the dungeon without running into anyone. Technically, he wasn't supposed to go down there unescorted by Levi. However, no one ever bothered locking the dungeon up during the day, when Eren wasn't in there. So the Titan shifter walked down the dimly lit stairs and into the small cell where he - and now Levi, as well - spent their nights.

Levi hadn't been restraining Eren for a little while now, since their nights were occupied with the kinds of activities that it was best to have both one's hands available for. Just about everyone in the castle knew that Eren and Levi were _involved_ by now, despite the fact that neither of them had ever said anything about it. In front of everyone else, Levi still called Eren "Jaeger" or "brat," and Eren still treated Levi with all the respect and attention due to one's commanding officer. But by the way the other Survey Corps soldiers looked at them - Petra's warm eyes and soft smile, Gunter's slight, knowing smirk - Eren could tell that they knew what he and the Corporal were to each other. Eren strongly suspected that Hanji had had something to do with it. Well, that and the fact that Levi had to recruit Erd to help him and Eren move a larger bed down to the dungeons. "Awkward" couldn't even _begin_ to describe that experience. Erd had looked like he was restraining himself from laughing with great effort, and Levi's stare could have killed whole armies of Titans. Eren was pretty sure that his own face had been beet-red the entire time.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much in Eren's little dungeon cell except for the bed, the manacles hanging off of the wall, and two small wooden chests for his and Levi's clothes and other personal belongings. Eren didn't want to put the baby bird on his clothes if he could help it; he didn't want to get poop on them, after all. Levi would pitch a fit, and Eren didn't have very many civilian clothes in the first place. After a few moments of poking around in the corners, Eren found a small wooden box which Levi had probably been storing soap in, although it was empty now. Eren lined it with two of Levi's cravats that he found lying discarded in the corner. The Corporal had probably forgotten about them, and Eren hoped that he wouldn't remember. Levi had a whole bunch of cravats anyway, there was no way he'd miss two.

Eren gently placed the bird inside its new home, grinning as the tiny creature chirped happily and affectionately pecked Eren's finger. Looking at it more closely in the flickering light of a nearby torch, Eren could see little specks of white along the tips of the bird's fuzzy gray wings, and just a hint of rust red on its breast. A baby robin, probably. Hopefully it would go to sleep at night, and wasn't easily roused. Levi liked it when Eren was loud in bed.

He was just about to get up and sneak back outside to actually train on his Maneuver Gear when Eren heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps going down the dungeon stairs, echoing off of the stone. Glancing towards the stairwell, the Titan shifter could see a hint of light that was probably a candle. Shit, was someone coming down to clean?

Hoping against hope that the bird would stay quiet, Eren threw himself down on the floor beside the bed. His clunky 3D Maneuver Gear, which he hadn't taken off before coming down here like an _idiot,_ prevented Eren from actually getting underneath the bed. He wasn't really supposed to be down here in the first place, let alone have Levi find out about the dirt-producing animal he'd brought inside. Maybe whoever it was would just change the bedsheets quickly and leave.

Through the gap between bed and floor, Eren saw a pair of boots come into view. They were polished so clean that Eren swore he could have seen his face in them, were he close enough. There was a quiet sigh, and then a monotone, slightly annoyed voice said, "Eren, what the hell are you doing down there."

Eren gulped slightly, feeling his face heat up. He nearly stumbled in his hurry to get to his feet. "Le-Levi!" Eren stuttered. "What are _you_ \- ?"

"I believe I asked you first." Levi raised a thin eyebrow, slate gray eyes regarding his lover coolly. Only the slight wrinkle of his forehead, which would have gone unnoticed by anyone who wasn't close to the Corporal, belied the fact that he was concerned.

"I - I just - " Eren mumbled, wracking his brain for a believable excuse. "I just wanted to grab some more oil for my 3D Maneuver Gear, because the wires sound kind of squeaky. I thought I might have left some down here..."

Levi just stared at Eren, clearly not buying a word of it. "So you thought you'd go to the dungeon to find _oil,_ despite the fact that there's plenty of it in the storage room? Which, I might add, would have been less trouble than going all the way down here?" 

"W-well..."

Levi sighed again, his eyes softening slightly as he moved a bit closer to the Titan shifter. "Don't lie to me, Eren. I thought we'd reached a point where you could trust me."

"I _do_ trust you! You know I do!" Eren exclaimed, feeling his cheeks heat up even more at Levi's proximity. "But - "

_Cheep cheep cheep..._

Levi instantly turned around, his eyes fixing on the small wooden box in the corner. A wooden box that now had the fuzzy, tiny head of a baby bird poking out of it. For a moment Levi simply stared at the tiny creature in surprise. The bird, apparently happy that Levi had noticed it, opened its beak and let out another string of chirps.

Levi turned back around to glare at his subordinate, who was now staring down at his boots as if they were the two most interesting things in the world. "Eren," Levi said, in the calmest, coolest voice possible, "why is there a baby bird in here?"

"I know, I know, I should have told you right away!" Eren burst out. "I found him out in the woods, and he was all alone, and I couldn't just _leave_ him there! I'm sorry, Levi."

"And _why,_ might I ask, is that baby bird sitting on my cravats?" A hint of anger had made its way into Levi's voice, despite his best efforts to keep calm.

"Well...I wanted him to be comfortable..." Eren was worrying at his lip, determinedly looking anywhere in the room but at Levi.

"You can't keep a live animal in here, Eren! It'll shit all over the place, and make a mess of things down here. And on my cravats, no less." Levi visibly shuddered at the thought. "And who's going to feed it? I sure as fuck don't have the time to come down here and drop breadcrumbs down that thing's throat, and neither do you."

"I'll feed the bird, I promise! I can give it some of my own food to eat. And I'll spend extra time cleaning down here, alright? You won't see so much as a drop of bird poop, Levi. I swear."

For a long moment, Levi and Eren simply stared at each other, adamant gray eyes looking into equally adamant turquoise ones. It was clear that Eren wasn't giving in to Levi about the bird, despite the fact that Levi was his commanding officer.

"Besides," Eren said softly, "if you found someone out beyond the walls, would you just leave them there for the Titans to eat?"

Levi sighed loudly. _Damn_ that little brat for knowing exactly which buttons to push - appealing to the kinder side of Levi, the side that only a select few people knew even existed. And while he was at it, damn Eren for having such beautiful eyes, and for being so fucking _cute,_ and moaning so prettily in bed...The brat was turning Levi soft at this rate.

The Corporal turned around to look at the little ball of fluff still peeking out of the box, sitting on _his_ cravats. The shitty thing even had the nerve to start _cheeping_ again. "You understand that I'm not going to cut you any slack because of this thing, right Eren?" Levi finally said. "You're going to have to feed it, and clean up after it, and take care of it. That's in addition to training with myself and the rest of the squad, _and_ working with Hanji. Am I understood, brat?"

Eren's smile was big enough to light up the whole room. "Yes, sir!"

Levi's own lips twitched upwards just a bit at that. Really, Eren was just too cute at times. "So does your little ball of shit have a name, then?"

"Um..." In all honesty, Eren hadn't even thought to name the baby bird. Now that he thought about it, however, a name popped into Eren's mind that was just too good to turn down. "Its name is Heichou."

The look Levi sent Eren could have killed a lesser man, but since he was Eren's lover, it only caused the Titan shifter to snort loudly in an attempt to stifle his own laughter. "Fuck you, brat," Levi said. "Get my clothes out from under that bird's ass, I'll get you some rags for it to nest in."

**-x-**

"Hey Eren, what do you have in your hand there?" Erd called out, when Eren entered the dining room for dinner with his hand gently curled around something small and soft-looking. "You know the Captain's not going to let you bring anything to the table that might possibly be dirty."

Eren gently uncurled his palm, allowing Heichou to hop onto the table on its spindly little legs. The bird turned its head around in little jerks, looking around at the other members of Squad Levi seated around the table with big black eyes. "I found it out in the woods today when I was training," Eren explained. "It was all alone, and the Corporal said I could keep it..."

"Aww, he's so cute! Hey there, little fella..." Petra cooed, reaching out to gently stroke one of Heichou's wings. "That was sweet of Captain Levi to let you keep it, Eren."

"You must have had to do something really _special_ to get him to let you keep an animal in here," Gunter said with a teasing smirk. Next to him, Auruo couldn't help letting out a slight snicker. Eren blushed beet-red for the second time that day.

"Oh knock it off you guys," Petra said, now gently cradling Heichou against her cheek. "How could anyone say no to this cutie? Besides, we all agreed that we wouldn't give Eren and the Captain a hard time about their... _you know."_

"Well...he didn't like that I named it Heichou, but he said I could keep it anyway..." Eren muttered, eager to change the topic off of what he and Levi did in bed together.

The entire table burst into laughter at that. Petra laughed so hard that she had to put Heichou down in order to wipe tears of mirth from her eyes. "Oh...Eren...you're too much," she gasped.

Heichou hopped down the table, making happy little peeping noises at the members of Squad Levi as he went. Eventually the little bird stopped in front of Auruo's half-full cup of tea. Heichou dipped its beak into the hot liquid, fluttering its wings slightly in excitement. 

"Shoo, bird," Auruo said, distrustfully eyeing the little ball of fluff now having its way with his teacup.

Instead of leaving, Heichou let out a string of little chirps, and hopped right into the cup, splashing the hot amber liquid all over the tablecloth.

For a moment everyone simply stared at the tiny bird sitting in Auruo's teacup. Auruo himself looked aghast, his face somewhere between red and splotchy purple with suppressed emotion.

Gunter started laughing again, but then the dining room door opened and Levi walked in. The dining room immediately went completely silent. Squad Levi simply stared at their Corporal, faces full of apprehension as to what was going to happen next. "Please don't kill Hei - the bird, Corporal!" Petra finally burst out, eyes brimming with concern for the tiny animal.

Levi took in the situation with one sweep of his narrow gray eyes. "Auruo," he finally said, his voice eerily calm, "there is a bird in your teacup."

"Ah...y-yes, there is, sir," Auruo sputtered out, his face still splotchy over his ruined tea.

"Do I need to remind everyone that animals are _not_ allowed at the table?" Levi glared at each of his squad members, who all bowed their heads like chastened children. "Give that little shit to Petra. Petra, take it down to Eren's room in the dungeon. There's a box in the corner that you can put it in."

Eren let out an audible breath that he hadn't known he'd been holding in. He'd been certain that Levi was going to boot Heichou out of the castle. Now, however, Eren felt nearly boneless with relief. Honestly, Levi had to be one of the nicest, sweetest people he'd ever met. The Corporal hid it well, but it was true.

"Jaeger!" Levi snapped. His sharp gaze moved to Eren, who immediately stood at attention and saluted. "Take that tablecloth and clean it. _Now._ I don't want to see a single stain on it when you're done."

"Sir yes sir!" Eren cried, quickly exiting the dining room with the tea-stained tablecloth under his arm. For a nice guy, Levi sure could be an asshole sometimes.

**-x-**

Once dinner was over and they were in Eren's dungeon room once more, Levi wasted no time in pushing Eren onto the bed. The Titan shifter let out a surprised noise, which was quickly muffled by Levi's mouth pressing hard against Eren's own. Eren's big, bright eyes fluttered closed as Levi ran his hands across Eren's chest. He moaned into his lover's mouth, allowing Levi's tongue entrance and deepening the kiss.

The two broke for air a minute later, panting harshly as Levi tugged off Eren's shirt, his own following suit. Eren couldn't help rolling his eyes as Levi broke away to fold their shirts and place them neatly at the foot of the bed. However, Levi's penchant for cleanliness and neatness was just one of the many things that endeared Eren to him. He leaned over and dropped gentle kisses to the back of Levi's neck, until the older man turned around and pushed Eren to the bed once more.

Levi crawled atop his younger lover, straddling Eren's waist as he reached out to gently tug at a nipple, fondling the hardened bud between his finger tips. "L-Levi!" Eren moaned, gasping as the older man trailed his other hand downwards, caressing the ridges of Eren's abs with his fingertips before coming to a stop just at the top of his pants.

"Please...Levi, don't tease..."

Levi chuckled quietly, leaning in to whisper in Eren's ear. "Needy tonight, aren't we?" Eren couldn't help letting out another moan at the rich, husky sound of his lover's voice. Levi sounded so sexy, looked so sexy, was just so incredibly beautiful in general...

Eren pulled Levi's head down into another searing kiss, bucking his hips up towards the Corporal's hand. Slowly, ever so slowly, Levi inched his hand down to rest on the catch of Eren's pants. Eren took this opportunity to release another loud moan, encouraging Levi to unfasten the catch and...

_CHEEP-CHEEP-CHEEP._

Levi's hand stilled, only an inch away from the hard-on tenting Eren's pants. His head whipped around to look at Eren's stupid baby bird - _Heichou,_ and damn the brat for giving it that name - who was currently hopping up and down in its box, flapping its tiny wings as hard as it possibly could. The bird's beak was wide open, and it was currently emitting noises that were _way_ too loud for such a tiny thing.

Eren picked his head up off the pillow to stare incredulously at Heichou for a moment, before flopping back down with a moan of frustration. "I don't _believe_ this." He tugged at Levi's wrist, eager to continue their previous activities. "Come _on,_ Levi, let's just ignore it."

Levi turned back to Eren and just smirked, before removing his hand completely from Eren's crotch. The Titan shifter cried out and grabbed at Levi's hand, trying to move it back down to its previous position, but Levi simply twisted his wrist and broke Eren's grip. "Now Eren, you did say that you were going to take care of the bird. It's probably hungry, so you should feed it. Baby birds eat a lot, you know."

Eren was staring at Levi as if his lover had lost his mind. Laughing inwardly, the Corporal continued. "I bet it's taken a shit as well, so you also need to change the rags in there. I left a pile next to the box for that very purpose."

"You have _got_ to be kidding me."

Levi palmed Eren's crotch once more, relishing the way in which his lover's hips moved into the touch. "I told you brat, I'm not cutting you any slack in taking care of that thing. You want that bird, you have to take care of it no matter what else might be going on."

Eren gave Levi the dirtiest look he could muster, before climbing out of the bed and going over to take care of Heichou. He moved awkwardly, of course, because he was still hard. "I hate you," Eren grumbled.

"Hey, you were the one who wanted the little cockblocker."

**-x-**

Hanji actually _squealed_ when Eren walked into the large, open clearing where she ran her experiments. It was located in the middle of the woods and was about a mile away from the castle, just in case something went wrong. Except for the rickety camp table set up to one side, piled precariously high with notes and journals covered in an untidy, slanting hand, the place looked more like the setting for a nature hike than a laboratory.

At first, Eren thought that Hanji was just happy to see him again, after having to miss out on a whole day of observing and gathering data on his Titan form. He was soon proven wrong, however, when the scientist ran right up to him. "Let me see the baby, Eren!" She cried, looking up and down Eren's body as if said "baby" was going to pop right out of him any second now.

"Uh...do you mean Heichou?" Eren stuck his hand into his pocket and gently pulled out the baby bird, who had been contentedly curled up in the warm fabric up until now. Upon being exposed to the cool morning air, Heichou opened its eyes sleepily and let out a tiny _peep._

Hanji squealed again, loud enough to make Eren wince. "Oooohhh how cuuuttteee..." she cooed, reaching out and plucking the bird out of Eren's hands. "Hey there, I'm Hanji. What's your name?" The scientist crooned, gently poking at Heichou's head with a finger.

"Its name's Heichou," Eren said with a grin. He'd be damned if he wasn't going to get Levi back for last night, at least in some small way.

"What?! _Heichou?_ You named him HEICHOU?" Hanji burst out into laughter, practically doubling over from mirth, and jostling the baby bird in her hands. "Oh my gosh that is _priceless!_ I bet Levi was _thrilled."_

"Oi, shitty glasses," Levi spoke up as he walked into the clearing. The Corporal had to be on hand whenever Eren shifted into a Titan, just in case he lost control. "Let's get started already. I've got stuff to do, I can't baby-sit you and the brat all damn day."

"Levi, say hello to your precious namesake!" Hanji cried, thrusting her hands out in Levi's direction. Heichou flapped its wings in order to stay in Hanji's hands, giving out an alarmed string of chirps

"You're going to hurt that bird..." Levi said, eyeing the scientist suspiciously as Eren danced around her, trying to find a way to take Heichou back before Hanji dropped it.

"No I'm not, he's perfectly safe - OW!" Heichou, apparently having had enough of being manhandled by Hanji, had pecked at her finger. Not hard enough to bleed, but enough to hurt and leave a red mark. "You hold it, Eren!" The scientist dropped the baby bird into Eren's outstretched hand, popping her injured finger into her mouth and sucking on it in order to soothe the pain.

Levi's mouth quirked upwards into the slightest of smiles. "Can't say you didn't have it coming, Hanji. Maybe that bird isn't so bad after all."

**-x-**

Over the next few weeks, Eren proved to be remarkably adept at making time to care for the bird. Of course, it helped that Levi allowed him to carry Heichou around in the pocket of his jacket, where it would spend the day lazily curled up against the soft fabric. Heichou had quickly become a favorite with the rest of Squad Levi as well, and it wasn't long before they were all going around with breadcrumbs in their pockets to feed to the baby bird throughout the day. Heichou relished the attention, and it wasn't long before Heichou would stick its head out of Eren's pocket and start cheeping happily whenever it heard someone walking by.

Even Levi himself had warmed up to his feathered namesake, especially after Eren started waking up a half hour early in the mornings, so that he could clean out the bird's box. They had also figured out that Heichou would go right to sleep if a piece of cloth was draped over its box at night, so now Levi and Eren's nighttime adventures went blissfully uninterrupted. Privately, they both hailed that little trick as the most important discovery made by mankind in a long while.

But nothing beat the night when Eren came back to the room one night after a trip to the bathroom to find Levi dropping a few breadcrumbs of his own into Heichou's open beak. "There you go, you little shit, eat it up," the Corporal was murmuring, in a rarely heard affectionate tone.

The scene was so adorable, Eren couldn't help but start laughing. He quickly brought his hand up to his mouth in order to muffle the sounds, but Levi heard anyway. He turned his head to glare at his young lover, blushing slightly. Which only caused Eren to laugh even harder, of course.

"I'm sorry..." Eren gasped out between chuckles, "it's just...so _cute_...I didn't know you were even _capable_ of being cute, Levi..."

Levi's blush darkened. "Shut the fuck up and get back in the bed brat. Or do I need to start chaining you up and escorting you to the bathroom again?"

**-x-**

Lavished as it was with food and attention, Heichou grew quickly. Its soft, fluffy gray down was replaced by sleek, dark feathers, and the rusty tint to its belly sharpened into a bright reddish-orange color. The bird's wings grew larger and filled out with feathers, its legs stronger and less spindly. Before long, Heichou had to switch to riding in Eren's larger pants pocket, when it couldn't fit in the Titan shifter's jacket anymore without half of a wing sticking out. 

Eren knew, of course, that he couldn't keep Heichou forever. He was a soldier, after all, and it just wouldn't be practical - or fair to Heichou - to take a robin with him into battle against the Titans. However, the Titan shifter couldn't help getting attached to the cute little bird. He'd never had a pet before, and it was just...nice, to have a creature whose eyes would light up whenever you walked into the room, who would greet you with an affectionate peck on the hand in the mornings, who never asked anything of you except for a few crumbs of food and a gentle stroke of the feathers.

But Heichou had become more active as of late. It hopped around more often, and had reached the point where it could flutter a few inches above the floor now. Eren and Levi were sometimes woken in the mornings as of late by the sound of Heichou's wings flapping, as the little bird hopped and fluttered about on the dungeon's stone floor.

Still, on the day when Levi gently kissed his shoulder and said, "it's time, Eren," he couldn't help but feel tears prickle at the corners of his eyes.

**-x-**

At Eren's insistence, they said goodbye to Heichou in the front garden right after dinner. Petra, Erd, Gunter, and Auruo were present as well. The Squad was all a bit misty-eyed, except for Auruo, who had never quite managed to warm up to Heichou after the bird had ruined his tea on its first night in the castle.

Eren went to stand next to Levi, holding the bird carefully in his two hands with uncharacteristic solemnity. "Should we say something first?" He asked.

Levi couldn't help rolling his eyes, but the expression on his face was soft. "If you want to, then go ahead brat. This isn't a funeral though, so keep it short."

Eren looked right into Heichou's beady black eyes. "Good luck out there, Heichou. It's been great having you these past few weeks." He gently brushed his lips against the top of the bird's head. "I love you, OK? Don't die out there. I won't either, I promise."

Behind them, Gunter blew his nose loudly.

Then Eren held up his hands and opened them. Heichou looked down at Eren and Levi, cocked its head to the side, and gave an affectionate little chirp. Then the bird spread its wings and flew straight up into the bright blue sky, towards the setting sun. They all stared after it until Heichou was only a dark speck against the horizon, quickly vanishing behind a tree.

Levi turned to face his young lover. "Are you alright, Eren?" He asked softly.

Eren nodded, wiping away the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes. "Yeah."

Levi didn't say anything, just draped his arms around Eren's shoulders and rested his chin on the Titan shifter's shoulder. Sensing that their Corporal and Eren were having A Moment, the rest of Squad Levi filed quietly back into the castle.

"You know, I'm jealous," Eren said after a few moments. "Heichou can fly out past the Walls. It can explore the rest of the world - it can go to the ocean, if it wants to. Me and you though...we're stuck here."

Levi turned Eren around and gazed into the boy's wet teal eyes for a moment. "We'll get there, Eren. I promise." He whispered into his lover's ear, wrapping his arms around Eren and holding him close.

Eren smiled, and tilted Levi's head up for a kiss. For the first time in what seemed like forever, he felt that everything was going to be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> In case it's not clear, Levi and Eren act according to their stations in public. They only call each other by first names in private. 
> 
> The reason I used gender-neutral pronouns with Heichou the bird is because no one has a way of easily determining the bird's gender in the SnK 'verse. Many species of birds have internal sex organs anyway, so it would be near impossible to tell without a blood test in that case.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed your fic, kaorusquee, and I hope it didn't suck too bad. Stay classy!


End file.
